The Last Ship 4x09 "Detect, Deceive, Destroy" and 4x10 "Endgame" send the season out with a bang

As much as I have been down on the current season of The Last Ship, there is always something to be found in the finale that draws me back. It's fair to say that not unlike other shows, the finale (or end of a storytelling arc) draws everything to a climax and makes you see that it is the show at its best, because it is happening in front of you. In the case of The Last Ship, the action usually reaches a particularly strong climax by the end of a season, and has never seemed to fail in that regard.

The finale of season four comes to a close with the Vellek clan still at odds with another until they've all die off, one by one. The particulars of Vellek's plan finally come in play, but it feels all too late to make much of an impact, especially with regards to both his motivations (seems Kristos was actually killed by a random act of violence, albeit framed really ridiculously), and as to the notion on how Paul Vellek would manage to propagate the cure even if his plans had been found out at the last minute. The latter especially would've made the scenes where the elder Vellek insist on reaching landfall as quickly as possible carry more weight.

Giorgio and Lucia though at least deserve some credit for having characters that carry themselves gracefully to the finish line that are their demises. There are some quiet moments such as the one they share as Giorgio realizes his sister is the truly competent one - overseeing naval maneuvers for four Greek ships being a far cry from her younger days. Giorgio also is the one to realize his father is not the only one in a nostos haze and in some ways does try to snap her out of it (only by ultimately dying), though the show is slightly reluctant to show what exactly happens for Lucia when she does drink that distilled nostos; it might as well be a whiskey flask if not for the paternal connection. I did enjoy the fact that Lucia was the most competent of the Vellek clan - at least when it came to directly opposing the Nathan James - as this season was sorely lacking in a worthwhile antagonist. The fact and realization that Paul and at times Lucia spend it in a drug haze makes their eventual downfall feel less satisfying. Especially in a finale where three Greek warships are quickly dispatched in no time flat.

One thread that surfaces back and forth through the season is Tom Chandler's reluctance and inner darkness, and it comes to a head when he confronts Paul Vellek at the edge of the Triton, ready to throw himself into the sea, if only to spite the Nathan James from getting their hands on his research (no one thought to just shoot him in the leg?). In the end, both men came to a bit of a stalemate as to how to take humanity into the future, and if peace should be gained at the cost of free will or not. It's not a strength of the show to particularly philosophize on that matter, especially when the show's through line is a very clear pro-naval stance, and the show has made pretty clear the antagonist is not to be sympathized with.

There is no real need for each season of The Last Ship to feel transformative, but by the season's end there is not much that makes the world feel different from the situation that they left behind after season three. The Red Rust threat was made to sound global, but it was never really fully realized except as a plot point to turn people's allegiances when required. The simple fact that food rationing was not ever shown as a real concern means that the stakes felt lacking in a way the other threats (e.g. the Red Flu, and numerous antagonists) ever did. As the Nathan James sailed into the sunset with the cure in hand, it felt empty and lacking, and given the preview for season five, it seems the threat will be deflated and replaced with what hopes to be a drastically more interesting situation, in terms of world building and stakes involved.

• Very interesting way to have regular side characters join in on the fight as the boarding party against the Triton. Especially Gator who just happened to also be an expert marksman. And cue the navigator jokes as well.
• Although Peter Weller at times felt wasted in front of the camera, there was some good direction from him behind it.
• The hallucination chasing scene with Paul and Kristos was extremely well done and I'd love to see how that was made, to be honest.
• Is it now a running theme for the Nathan James to just lose helo pilots? I wonder if that will be the case next season as well, unless it'll be Cupid (Kathleen Nolan) at the controls.
• As usual, Kara and Danny are the most interesting to watch and makes me happy they continue to live.
• And again, the master chief's injuries (punctured lung) completely deflate (pun intended) any danger on his behalf and ultimately go nowhere except being excluded from action sequences, I guess.

The Last Ship 4x08 "Lazaretto" - alas, another shocking twist, I guess!

There is some innate charm to be fooled by yet another "dead hallucination" trope that almost makes me want to go back to the previous episodes and wonder if I could find that one slip up that ruins the illusion, but usually the execution - at least in scene blocking - is usually done well enough that you'll never spot the flaw. The problem however, might be the execution on the page when it comes to moments like these. The real question was if the show even bothered to signal towards it, or was it such a twist that left no clues behind to even prompt a closer look? Was there any particular need for Kristos to be a nostos hallucination? Or that the show had signaled strongly that Giorgio, the black sheep of the family, would remember blood is thicker than water? In both those cases, neither of these seemed particularly earned.

As the flashbacks start to accumulate over the course of the episode, the case is made more clear they emphasize Paul Vellek over any other character, despite the presence of all the Vellek children. It's also made incredibly clear it only ever concerns Kristos and that Giorgio and Lucia are merely set dressing. The crux of the twist relies solely on the final scene where Paul Vellek brews up some nostos tea and we learn that the favoured son was roughed up and killed over what seems to be his lunch money. The wrinkle is supposed to play out that Paul Vellek had this particular disdain for his son going back to America to study that it basically forced some wedge between them, but now he lavishes the figment of his son with all the praise he can give - and receives some in return. Sadly, even for a show that rarely lingers on the characters, The Last Ship somewhat fails to deliver when it does attempt to try to explore the nuance and depth of the situation and merely rely on those moments to deliver; they ultimately feel flat because there isn't much substance behind it.

Giorgio's turn/not-turn feels unearned in a similar fashion. Fortunately his actor has had the opportunity to develop Giorgio over the course of the season at least, allowing some depth to be found in the moments that were asked of him over the course of "Lazaretto". The show is also intentionally vague about how much or why Giorgio even bothers to basically fumble his mad scientist father's even plan to Fletcher, so it makes it confusing to parse whether or not Fletcher is being played (and in turn is just a bad spy) or Giorgio is some kind of genius. It remains to be seen whether or not the whole theatre played between the elder Vellek and Giorgio in front of Fletcher was a ruse, as the final moment lingers on Giorgio having to reconcile his father asserting he is of the sharpest mind (and greatest persecution complex) and a man who relies just as much on nostos as the people he wants to turn docile. Having a pacifist "hippie" scientist play the antagonist in a show facing off against the US Navy (or any branch of the US armed forces) seems to be an interesting choice nonetheless; definitely a charged one at that.

• Not much to say about the Nathan James aspect of the episode, as it was pretty straightforward. Though I did like Sasha annoyed at the fact it was boys only entrance to the food testing grounds.
• Not sure what to make of the janitor scene to be honest, as it just seemed pointless to the whole affair.
• And the unfortunate part of Jeter's injuries seem to continue to run the course, proving to be even less insignificant of a plot beat when his incapacitation comes up. No one is particularly slowed down or injured in the wake of his gut deciding to spit up more blood.

The Last Ship 4x06, "Tempest" / The Last Ship 4x07, "Feast" - as the action heats up, the rest of the show seems to cool.

There is a type of myopia in this season of The Last Ship that hadn't become entirely clear until this point. Part of the charm of the evolution of the show was that as it continued, the world building (one of the show's key strengths) followed along. But despite the fact it is in its fourth season, the show seems to struggle with it. Not to go back to the highs of the better regarded third season, but that season featured much more detail and use of setting and world building. It feels as if the fourth season wishes to return to the setup of season one, where it was the one last American naval ship against a singular enemy, racing to save humanity.

The problem I seem to have is what little world building that has come forth in season four cannot ever infer more than what it says and has little to no face value other than in the scene it resides in. For instance, there is only ever one mention of St. Louis and the U.S. government despite the fact that the world is again on the brink of annihilation, or that any little hints towards the state the rest of the world is in are so minimal that the world building feels clumsy and undercooked.

"Tempest" faced the Nathan James off with escaping an enemy that vastly outnumbers them in the Greek navy. Part of the exciting action contained in the episode is the cut between the ship enduring the waves of the storm as the crew works to survive it, while Fletcher engineers a plan to get the seeds off the ship. There is a confusing moment as the Nathan James charges the Greek naval line and no one exchanges fire. I suppose that regardless of discipline, if anything happened everyone would retaliate, safety of the world's last hope be damned. Regardless, by the end of it, Fletcher absconded with the seeds, so it seems that Nathan James is not as safe any more.

"Feast" helps bring the disparate elements of what little world building there is in season four to help elucidate Paul Vellek's plan for a Red Rust resistant crop. I am a bit reticent about the reveal, as part of it seems to veer too far in to the edge of "supervillainy" with the plan to also introduce nostos DNA into the proceedings so he can turn even the most violent and warmongering person docile. The show had previously done a much better job of turning away from outright "supervillainy", although I guess one could argue the entire conceit and premise of the show was based off a scientist trying to make the Red Flu in the first place. It will be interesting to see how the season will try to conclude, as it seems to signal the Vellek children moving into their places in the finale. Giorgio, the black sheep seems likely to rebel, whereas the fairly competent Lucia (despite the show's writing basically whoring her out to a man at nearly every opportunity) will remain in the foreground. Not sure about the last Vellek son, who hasn't done much but smirk pleasingly because he decided to follow his father in the same career path.

• Not quite sure why Jeter wants to hide his injuries sustained in "Tempest", except to create some artificial drama and then probably later to become incapacitated when the plot requires it.
• When the show wants to do small character moments, the show does deliver. Danny and Kara's small interaction in "Feast" is as loving as it is sweet and nice to see.
• It's always a shame to see background characters that have lasted so long get finally killed off, O'Connor being the notable casualty this season. But at least he went out with a fight.
• Omar returning felt a little silly even by the standards of this show. Shot in the back and returns healthy as ever a few episodes later? And then to be blown up.

The Last Ship 4x05, "Allegiance" - For clarity and morale, a new direction feels needed at the right time

At the halfway point of the season, The Last Ship finally feels like it has its bearings again. The initial adventure that took place as Tom Chandler found his way back to the Nathan James felt like an overdue and long-winded exercise that could have sacrificed some runtime for the sake of brevity. But nevertheless, now that the crew is effectively back together, an invigorated energy that seems to have been lacking has in some ways returned.

There's a lot to process despite that most of the episode was contained in the Nathan James. The main crux is Tom Chandler wondering if he can basically re-enlist, and despite the foregone conclusion, his indecision does chafe at the crew that took slights to his disappearance, which help to add some depth to the proceedings. The other draw in the episode is the slightly late reveal that the El-Alamein's captain (so the speak) is British intelligence, and urges Fletcher to turn his back on the Americans and steal the seeds to make sure the Brits are the first to benefit from any new Red Rust-resistant crops.

It makes for an interesting choice for Vellek to remain a background force, so seemingly influential and powerful - and his supposed expertise being much needed - that he can sway an entire nation away from whatever allegiances they hold. Part of the charm of The Last Ship is that it doesn't forget the seemingly larger picture or global scale it finds itself in. With the UK still reeling from their own internal struggles (referred to and glimpsed at back in season two), it shaped their nation in ways the USA of this show in vastly different ways. It will interesting moving forward to see how the UK acts as a secretive antagonist against the Nathan James and what demands it will place on Fletcher. It's an age old and well worn plot to demand someone's loyalty between their home and newfound friends, but it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds nonetheless.

And lastly, it doesn't seem like 'nostos' will be done with just yet. The show seems to give the impression it will somehow return in some form or other, with Doc Rios trying to research the origins of the plant while it seems like even a single dose has hooked Slattery in some respects. The final scene seems to imply the habit is not kicked, and the allure of it might be too strong.

But regardless of where some of these threads might end up, for now it seems like the show has at least set a course that looks like the right direction.

• Burke is still reeling from the effects of the attack in Rota, as he becomes more paranoid and unhinged. He is finding it problematic that the enemy is not so clear cut, so it will be interesting if and when his path coincides with Fletcher's.
• Not sure how I feel about Kandie's speech about Chandler, the Nathan James, and destiny. It seemed a little too on the nose in regards to the whole exercise of the show than anything else.

The Last Ship 4x03 “Bread and Circuses” and 4x04 “Nostos” don't feel like we're being taken anywhere as far as I can see.

The Sardinian adventures of the Nathan James leads them right to their expected goal, but in doing so, some new truths are revealed. It’s a bit odd for the show to move to a 10-episode season after the previous two had been 13, so it means there might be some fat cut at the expense of the moving target that is the main plot. At which point it seems like any world building will be lost at this expense.

Since the season is near the halfway point, it will be interesting to see where the future will lead. Obviously the first order of business will be for our heroes to put the seeds to use, but just how Peter Weller’s Paul Vellek will do so – with his newly revealed, and favoured son – will look to be ominous indeed.

Part of the charm and suspension of disbelief involved in The Last Ship is to simply toss their command structure off the ship and into harm’s way at any possible opportunity. I remember hearing a lot of comparisons to Star Trek’s away teams (though I must admit I have very little Star Trek experience). It’s obviously a creative need to place the main cast in some form of participation that isn’t just shouting orders in a bridge or CIC set, but again, the post-apocalyptic setting works well to warrant the need, and the show is generally better as a result.

The show makes me wonder how much more world building is possible at the moment however, when so much is still left in the air as the crew leaves Sardinia. Every faction introduced is still in play, but really only the Greeks are given any depth at the moment now that they have been firmly placed in the spot where they stand to be any true threat to the Nathan James.

Bread and Circuses felt like a fairly myopic episode however, lacking much focus on anything specific to cling onto. By the episode’s end it was clear it was waiting for its conclusion in the next episode while many of the roadblocks put up lacked any interest or immediate stakes. It was incredibly disjointed to see Chandler reason to his newly reunited team that he should remain a double agent, only for literal moments later to have to ghost out Giorgio's group to avoid being lynched by the mob.

Nostos proved to be an interested but also long-winded conclusion for the Sardinia adventure, trading time between the crew searching for Slattery, and his attempts to evade capture, followed up by some drug-induced hallucinations. It’s at this point it’s a little jarring to see though, some of the imagery was interesting (Miller and Burk shooting in the campground hallucination, Slattery’s son walking past the breached door – with a bad guy taking a headshot to boot) but it just really raised the hilarious notion that Slattery’s background was a known but non-specific fact through the show’s run. It was interesting to see specifically why ‘nostos’ itself seemed to be such a powerful magic pill to those starving at the hands of the Red Rust, but I hope it will be interesting to see if they continue the thread by having Slattery face any lingering effects from it.

 

It will be interesting to see where the show moves on from here. The Mediterranean will likely be the setting this season will find itself in, but now that everyone is reunited, the burden of world building now lies with Weller's Vellek and his family to do the heavy lifting.

 

• Funny to see Tom Chandler invading everyone’s life again, but by the end it seems to send a different message; his crew have in many ways, moved on without him. Which in odd contrast, we see the ground team seem to fawn over him, with Sasha almost occasionally forgetting about Fletcher at moments.
• Equally funny to see that Giorgio and Lucia are essentially the black sheep of the family since their father has a son that actually wants to follow in his footsteps.
• Part of me thinks the genetic sample 'problem' is fairly easy to solve – maybe two episodes tops – that I wonder what obstacles the show will have to throw at the Nathan James to keep them from getting their homework done.
• In that same vein, I wonder what is the goal of keeping Omar alive will be, if anything more than a last ditch effort to recapture the seeds, given the 10-episode run.
• And Tom has abandoned his children again, but now that everyone knows who he is, it might be the last play Giorgio has.

The Last Ship 4x01 “In Media Res” and 4x02 “The Pillars of Hercules” start us off in a new direction

"When is it gonna stop Danny? We're the good guys, right?"

There’s always a particular charm in watching the good guys of any worthwhile drama constantly finding themselves on the back foot. If anything, it is the modus operandi of The Last Ship, as its namesake implies. I have always found it interesting how the show has constantly found ways to take what is ostensibly a recruitment tool for the U.S. Navy and wrap that around in a drama where forces find themselves in a fight for sheer survival. In some way, this show has always carried around its post-apocalyptic setting as strongly as the Michael Bay-funded naval action drama. 

It’s something of a hidden gem to see a television drama that has this superficial brouhaha but still manages to anchor itself in actual, interesting drama. Don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of times where characters share quiet moments or make idle chatter that gives additional depth and attachment to those on the journey, but the main drive is usually what mission these soldiers and sailors find themselves on. 

“In Media Res” is an interesting choice of a title to begin what feels like a brand new course for the show. It’s starting to become something of a habit for the show, taking a cue from the previous season by leaving the audience with a semblance of a victory for the crew of the Nathan James, but thrusting us and them into a brave new, once-again post-apocalyptic world where one solution leads to another problem. The problem this time is that about a year and a half later, the deadly Red Flu that tried to wipe out humanity was stopped when everyone was immunized, but the virus has simply jumped and started devastating the world’s food supply instead. It’s made quiet clear at the very start of the new season: there’s only one cure to this, but the good guys don’t have it, but they’re trying to work on getting it back.

Meanwhile, the great hero of The Last Ship has exiled himself away to Greece after the events at the end of the previous season. There’s a particular strength to this show when it uses other perspectives to do world building, and though I do hope for Tom Chandler to find his way back to the bridge of his ship, it is always interesting to see how the world has changed. In Greece, seedy men control the food supplies in the region and what basically amounts to a warlord holds the people of the Aegean in his thrall by lavishing them with food for loyalty, meanwhile levying hefty taxes on those that actually do the work of harvesting what food they can get. There's also some interested detail where a concoction can stave off the hunger, but it's basically an addictive drug for the masses.

An interesting use of in media res in the actual episode titled, “In Media Res”, occurs in the third act, just after Tom and Alex abscond with the food Giorgio and his men had taken from them, along with the attack on Naval Station Rota. We see Tom and his friends celebrating, happy to have flipped the bird on their oppressors for a night, enjoying their spoils for the night; meanwhile the crew of the Nathan James has to fend of a deadly attack on the naval base. The act breaks and then, immediately after, we’re hit with the aftermath. The crew of the Nathan James learns the true nature of the attack and has to deal with the hurt and damage inflicted on them; meanwhile Tom realizes the consequences of his actions. Especially in the latter, there is no need for a long-winded scene with our villains capturing Alex and leaving him for dead on the boat for Tom to find; we simply find ourselves in the moment with Tom, knowing his actions have cost someone their life. It was an interesting choice but I felt as if the execution was lacking somewhat.

“The Pillars of Hercules” is a much more straightforward affair to follow up the premiere. Quite simply, the Nathan James is caught en route to their intended destination, knocked out and ambushed and having to fend for themselves as best they can in the Strait of Gibraltar. It’s an issue common enough through the run of the series but, like many of these episodes, the Nathan James story usually allows the characters to shine in their own ways in what is a generally standard affair as they do what they can to pluck themselves out of a bad situation. It does a good job of showing the resourcefulness of the crew that the show has accumulated over time and even for their recent additions, giving them some much needed fleshing out. Meylan, who I thought seemed reticent and generally a quiet figure in the previous season, now has much more to add to the proceedings and fits in well. Diaz – who has been in the background most of the time after his introduction – now has moved up in the crew and also has a budding romance with Nolan, opening up her and the helo operator Sunshine (of which I hope to see more of both of them).

On the other hand, despite some of my reservations about Tom Chandler’s exile adventures in Greece, he is making some headway by taking a trip with Giorgio’s gang to what seems to be some kind of fancy Mediterranean fighting ring, led by some mysterious individuals that have a hand in the Greek navy as well. I would not be surprised if this leads into the Nathan James’ search for the ancient seeds they need, but it will be interesting to see how this conspiracy pans out, especially given the enemy seems to be fairly competent and well equipped to keep the U.S.’s sole naval destroyer on their toes.

 

• Again, because of the time jump, interesting to see Burk and Miller sport beards. (Danny too.) Alas, it seems they will be at odds for a while.
• And interesting to see a Kenyan soldier and British intelligence agent come aboard the crew of the Nathan James. Always delighted to see a more multicultural crew fighting together.
• A shame that the older of the Burk brothers had to take such a severe injury in the attack, but it means that Kara is coming back on the ship. Always felt that she belonged more on the ship than off; though I did enjoy her time spent in the US administration last season regardless. She always seemed to be a much more interesting character to follow anyway.
• Not sure how I feel about the whole Tom Chandler playing dumb here. Sure, he “fights smart” as I am told but nothing in that fight choreography really told me anything besides who hit harder.

Revenge? There's an app for that! (A review of Watch_Dogs)

This review of Ubisoft's Watch_Dogs was originally written and posted on NeoGAF on the 20th of September, 2015. (Original thread URL)




STORY SPOILERS AHEAD!

I'm not sure if I could say I really enjoyed the 50 or so hours I spent playing Watch_Dogs. But I'll try to describe the feeling of playing it through: Watch_Dogs is a video game that does an adequate job of being a video game. But that's all it excels at. The problem is that it never feels like the best version of what an open world game about a playable character that has nearly complete access to a city-wide surveillance apparatus is. In fact, I might go as far as to say the game is very incongruous with itself, and at the worst, it actively works against itself.